About

Uncle Ruud, the founder of the terrain where the Catfarm is located. Click to know the story behind the car.

What is the Catfarm?

The Catfarm is an off-grid welcoming community of travelers, (digital) nomads, artists, entrepreneurs and anyone with the will to explore an alternative lifestyle closer to nature.

Located on a farm on the outskirts of the medieval village of Poussan, less than an hour’s drive from lively Montpellier, the Catfarm plays host to an ever-changing array of wanderers that want to go beyond dreaming and start doing.

The first days of the tipi that we use for workshops.

Mission

Building an international community of creatives and travelers to create appealing ways to demonstrate self sufficient living.

Small notes being left behind from mystical creatures.

Vision

Community, Creativity, Sustainability

We are a collective of travellers working and growing alongside each other.

On the hood is Ulysses, the son of Ruud and founder of the community. Inside the car is Ruud. The same car is right now our guest accommodation.

History

The Catfarm as we know it is quite young. It all started in 2012 when our first volunteer arrived after Ulysses (the son of owner Ruud) had to pay back parts of the cost of the recently-bought boat Valparaíso in labor hours.

At that time there were about 12 cats (now just 3) hanging around the farm, indulging in a reign of terror by constantly walking through recently-applied cement and knocking over paint cans. To make life more fun, and after himself being hosted many times, Ulysses invited travelers from Couchsurfing to the farm to work together, and from that moment on, the project became known as the Catfarm (although for a short time it was the Catfarm of Uncle Ruud).

After leaving his native Netherlands, Ruud fell in love with the sunny south of France, where his beloved French singer Georges Brassens once lived. In his own words, “I followed the music.” Ruud arrived in France a year after Georges Brassens died, and despite having no experience in agriculture, decided to cultivate grapes for wine production. After he received a son in Montpellier he went back to the Netherlands for a short time, but, seeing no future in his relationship with Marjolein, he returned to France and bought the property we now know as the Catfarm (previously named “de Mas”) in the late 1980s. He ran it single-handedly for the next 22 years before retiring at the age of 54. Although he has given up growing grapes, Ruud still lives on his treasured farm, and has expressed a wish to be buried there after his death.

All the lights on at the Catfarm

Step off-grid and join our collaborative art project and be a part of our purrrfect community.

During our “Share your story!” Event June 2018 click to read more about our Erasmus programs.